Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister is here to take this legislation. I understand he has had a busy week so it is very welcome that he found the time to come in. This Bill is very simple. I thank my comrade, Deputy Cronin, for the work she has put in on this Bill, not just here but also, as she has alluded to, at the committee. This issue is important. We are lucky and thankful, and I am as a parent, that this is not something that will be used by a huge number of people.

For those who will use it, it is essential. This will put onto a statutory footing what already happens in most workplaces. Most employers will grant without hesitation time off work for a parent who is bereaved but they do not have any guidance. The worker does not know he or she can ask and the employer does not know what it can give. Essentially, what we are talking about is codifying what most decent employers do anyway and then, obviously, the legislation deals with those employers who perhaps do not do the right thing when the opportunity presents itself.

This should not be left as a grace-and-favour arrangement. It should not be something that a worker has to ask for or try to arrange when he or she has lost a child and is in the midst of that grief and of the turmoil and turbulence that will come after that. This brings a degree of certainty and it codifies the position. I genuinely believe that most employers will try to do the right thing but many workers will not ask. If they do not know they have a legal entitlement to it, they will not necessarily ask for that leave because there is that uncertainty, coupled with the fact their whole life has just turned upside down.

I cannot imagine it. When I think about my daughter and my grandson, I just put it out of my head. I cannot think about how awful that would be, but to then have to do something practical like trying to supplement their income would be very difficult. As the Minister will know, many people are living from week to week and from pay cheque to pay cheque. They simply cannot afford unpaid time off work. They need to know that when they need this leave, the leave will be available to them, and putting it onto a statutory footing is an important part of that.

Many parents may never feel ready to return to work but return to work they must because, as with everybody else, they have to eat, pay their bills and pay their rent. The landlord does not know the parent or the worker is bereaved, the person at the tills in Tesco does not know the parent is bereaved and the ESB does not know the parent is bereaved and so the bills keep arriving in the middle of all of this. All that this legislation does is to give that little bit of certainty.

The Minister's amendment is shameful. I do not think it is necessary. The Minister knows the legislative process. I heard his party leader say the other week that it takes two and a half years to learn the job. Here we are. The Minister knows the legislative process and he knows it is not fast. He knows we could be doing in parallel the work of consultation and anything else that is required. I think it would send a positive message from this House that we would start that work now instead of kicking it to touch.

Another reason I am concerned about the Minister's amendment, which is a tried and tested Government tactic, is that I was at committee yesterday discussing legislation on retired workers. The Minister's colleague, the former Minister of State, Deputy English, had kicked to touch for 12 months the legislation they wanted implemented to allow for a period of consultation, and nothing happened. When I asked people were they consulted, they said they sent in a submission but nothing happened. That time was not used. Past performance is an indication of future performance, in my opinion, and there is no point kicking things to touch and kicking them down the road. This is something that could be done now. We could actually start that work now instead of delaying it for 12 months.

It is not lost on me or anyone else that bereaved parents who are working in the Civil Service are already entitled to this leave. That argument has been won with the Government as employers. The Government is a large employer. That argument has already been won and that concession has already been given to those workers. They already have that right. We do not need to debate the merits and whether or not we need it. I think we can all agree that it is a worthwhile thing to do and, indeed, that argument has already been won on the Government side of the House.

This will not impact many people, thankfully, but for those who need it, it will mean the absolute world to them. It will be a godsend to them, a small bit of certainty in the middle of having their whole life turned upside down and ripped to shreds. If we are all agreed on this, as I think we are, I genuinely do not understand why we have to wait.

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